?`s and ANNEswers

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I rarely listen to the Fox radio or TV stations, even though they proclaim to be “fair and balanced.” Who wouldn’t want to be known as fair and balanced? I find, however, that the talking heads on Fox are so strident, so hostile that even if their story is fair and balanced, I’m turned off by the bombastic delivery. It seems to me one’s case is better argued in a quiet manner, rather than in an “I ask the hard questions here” one.

That disclaimer put out front, I sense a louder tone, a more aggressive delivery in the past ten days from “Foxers” since Barack Obama became President. It’s as if there is fear in Foxland, as if — just maybe — some of the heads are concerned that their position of righteous rightness is losing favor in Middle America. Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails” and Crowley’s nicknaming Obama “The Bama” are two examples of over-the-top rhetoric.

I’ve endured eight years of George W. Bush. But never, not once, did I curse him or call him some inappropriate nickname. Never did I wish he would fail, although I suspected he might. Never did I rely on emotion over fact. So, liberal that I am, I’m disappointed in the right (which may not really be) and in its ability to step back, at least momentarily, and be quiet. I suspect ratings are driving some of the mania, but I also suspect desperation is driving it too.

It’s often been said we could hear each other better if we talked more softly; I subscribe to that theory. Bill, Rush, Sean, Monica, etc. — think about it.